A former police marksman "stands by" his decision to open fire at Hounslow man Azelle Rodney, a court heard.

Anthony Long shot at the 24-year-old eight times, hitting him with six of the bullets and killing him instantly, when officers stopped the car in which he was travelling in Edgware on April 30, 2005.

Justice Nigel Sweeney told jurors at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (July 1) they must decide whether the 58-year-old grandfather, who is accused of the murder of Mr Rodney, had genuinely believed Mr Rodney was about to shoot at him or his colleagues when he fired the fatal shots.

Concluding his summing up the judge recounted the defendant's words during the three-week trial when describing those fateful moments.

The court heard Mr Long had said: "It wasn't an easy decision. I hadn't seen the gun. It was in fact the most difficult decision I've ever taken in 20 years as a firearms instructor and a firearms operator, but that was the decision I made and I stand by it."

The statement went on: "I'm satisfied to this day that I've seen no evidence to suggest other than Mr Rodney had a gun in his hand when I shot him, albeit not a machine gun.

"In half a second he (Mr Rodney) could have fired nine rounds (had he been holding a machine gun).

"It's nice to have time and look at it frame by frame 10 years after the event but I had fractions of a second (to make a decision) and my colleagues' lives were in danger."

Mr Justice Sweeney also recounted how Mr Long claimed to have seen Mr Rodney moving in a way which suggested he had reached for a gun and was about to open fire.

A member of the public who witnessed the shooting also said he had seen Mr Rodney move in an "animated" manner, the judge said, but had not been clear whether this happened before or while the shots were being fired.

The court had heard how police believed Mr Rodney and two other men in the car with him were on their way to rob a rival Colombian drugs gang when the vehicle was stopped.

Intelligence had suggested the men had three machine guns, but although three guns were discovered in the back of the car, where Mr Rodney was sitting, none of them were automatic weapons. The other occupants were later jailed after both admitted possessing a firearm.

The jury retired just before lunch and were sent home on Wednesday evening, having failed to reach a verdict.